


Without You

by KodyaK1812



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Based off a song, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Shadow can't handle it, Silver dies, There's the smallest bit of fluff, like very small, non-binary silver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27563689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KodyaK1812/pseuds/KodyaK1812
Summary: Silver has always been the self-sacrificing type, but what happens when Shadow can't take it
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog/Silver the Hedgehog
Kudos: 14





	Without You

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags, this is kind of heavy stuff, I don't want anyone to be caught off guard.

They were in battle, Shadow should have been more careful, he shouldn’t have split up with Silver, he knew something like this would happen, but he didn’t stop it.

It was early in the morning when Shadow and Silver were called to battle. Eggman was attacking a small town, it shouldn't have been a problem for Sonic alone, but clearly, the other hedgehogs were needed.

“Hey! Shads! How’s it going!” Sonic’s cheerful but strained voice comes from the communicator. Shadow sighs, “What do you need Sonic?” Shadow and Silver are sitting in Shadow’s living room, taking in the rare quiet time they had.

A nervous laugh comes through, a loud bang, then, “Well, Eggman’s got a new robot, it’s destroying a nearby town, I need your help with it, preferably both of you,” He adds, the line cutting out just a bit.

Shadow quickly gets up, grabbing the communicator, “Where are you?” There is a long pause, Shadow can hear metal crumpling under Sonic’s hits, “I’ll send the coordinates, just hurr-” Sonic is cut off in a wave of static, Shadow curses and gets ready to run to the town that just showed up on his map.

“Wait, I’m coming too.” Silver’s voice stops Shadow from leaving, he sighs and looks over at them, “Silver, please, from the sound of it, it’s bad.” Silver looks at Shadow, “I can help, I’ll be careful, promise. And besides, Sonic said both of us.” Shadow scan’s Silver’s face, it’s full of determination, Shadow could see they wanted to prove themself to him, even though they did every day.

“Ok,” Shadow laments, “But please be careful…” He trails off, leaving the other words unspoken, _I can’t lose you_. Silver gets up quickly, smiling up at Shadow, “I will don’t worry.” 

Shadow would have loved to say he wasn’t worried but that would be a lie. It was true that Silver went through horrible things in the future and got through it, but what Silver didn’t show is how much it scarred them. Shadow promised to himself that he wouldn’t let Silver go through all that again. 

The reason Silver was in the past and not in the future was that after Silver lost Blaze, they were separated from a childhood friend. Blaze was important to Silver, and when they lost her, it hit hard. So Silver stayed in the past, helping with anything they could, missions with Sonic and Shadow, but mostly just being there to escape the future.

One day on a mission with Shadow, Silver was reminded of Blaze, Shadow had never been sure why, but he didn’t push it. Silver couldn’t take it anymore and broke down, Shadow had helped Silver that day, and after, Silver opened up to him. They explained that after Blaze left, it was like a hole in their heart, and nothing could fix it.

Shadow related too much to that feeling, Maria had been his big sister. When he lost her, Shadow had the same feeling, a longing for someone to be close to again, but not wanting to get close so you didn’t have to feel lost again, the feeling that no one could fill that pit in your heart. 

After that, Silver and Shadow started to help each other with their losses, Shadow had mended mostly, Rouge and Omega had helped him through it, but sometimes he would get that feeling again and have to work through the pain.

As they worked through the feeling together, they got closer, Silver would stay over at Shadow’s house instead of taking Sonic’s guest room, Shadow added Silver to his personal contacts, and they were inseparable at times.

They eventually told their friends that they were in a relationship, their friends congratulated them, and Rouge and Sonic traded money from bets, Sonic had called that they would tell in 2 months and Rouge called for 3, Rouge ended up being right. 

And now they had been together for almost a year, a year of Shadow getting closer to Silver, and promising to himself that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. A year of Shadow seeing Maria in Silver, they loved the ocean, they often went to the ocean in the summer, but they also loved the stars, just like Maria. Shadow and Silver would spend hours at night staring at the stars, not saying anything, just watching the swirls of colors across the night sky, and just being together.

But now as Shadow fights with Silver next to him, he sees Maria the most, and Shadow feels the hole in his heart mending. Silver fought to protect the civilians, no matter the cost. They would sacrifice their own life to save anyone in the town, Shadow should have seen what was going to happen sooner, Maria was always so compassionate, so loving and caring, just like Silver. They would never let anything happen to anyone in danger.

Shadow feels his heartbeat quicken as Silver turns to him, “Shadow, we have to split up!” Shadow feels a frown come over his face before masking it, “Alright, but promise me you’ll be careful.” Silver nods and mutters an “I promise” before pressing a kiss to Shadow’s lips and running off. 

Shadow glances at Silver, fighting for everyone, and sees exactly why he fell in love with them, no matter what, they weren’t fazed by the fighting, they wanted to save everyone.

Once the fighting dies down, Shadow looks for Silver, but can’t see them, “Silver!” he’s yelling now, worried out of his mind. Shadow skates around quickly looking for the tell-tale cyan of Silver’s powers. “Silver!” Shadow’s desperate now, he can’t afford to lose Silver, he couldn’t live like that. 

A bit of glowing cyan hovers in the edge of his vision, “Silver?!” He sounds desperate. There is a weak cough and Shadow is next to the light in an instant, rubble illuminated by cyan, “No, no, no. Silver!”

Below Shadow, Silver is trapped under rubble, blood pouring from a wound on their head, Silver’s quills covered in blood and dirt. “No! Silver, I’ll get you out, I-” Shadow chokes as Silver coughs out blood, the cyan lit rubble falls back onto Silver’s legs. “No...please” Shadow drops to his knees next to Silver, crimson eyes watering, “You- you promised, please, you have to be okay.” 

Silver looks up at Shadow, “I-I did promise, didn’t I…” Silver wipes a partly clean glove over their mouth, it comes away bloody, “Shadow...I had to save them...I couldn’t let them see their village in ruins like my hom-” Silver coughs out more blood.

Silver grimaces, “Shadow, I couldn’t stand back and let them die. And if I have to pay for saving them, so be it, at least they’ll be alive...right?” Silver gets a misty look in their eye, “They’ll have the home I never had.”

Shadow holds Silver in his arms as best he can, “Stop talking, I’ll save you, I have to find a way.” Silver shakes their head weakly, “I love you Shadow.” Silver reaches up and pulls Shadow into a kiss.

Shadow can barely hear it but they mutter a small, weak, “I’m sorry.” Shadow’s quick to react, “No, Silver it’s not your fault, I-... I should have saved you earlier.” Shadow feels Silver’s hand fall away from Shadow’s neck and go limp in his arms, Shadow feels the tears that were building up spill over, streaming down his face.

Shadow can’t handle it, Silver meant the world to him, they were the most important person to Shadow and he didn’t save them. Shadow sits there, cradling Silver in his arms for the longest time, numb and still, finally, Sonic comes and finds him, but when he gets there Shadow isn’t responding, just sitting there tears running down his face.

In the shock of Silver’s death, Sonic calls Rouge and she comes to help her friend, but she fears Shadow was too far gone. They give Silver a proper death, and mourning, the funeral is set up next to the cliff where Maria’s grave and tribute were.

After a few weeks, everyone is concerned for Shadow, he never eats food unless Rouge and Omega make sure he does, he doesn’t go out anymore, only to the graves and back, and won’t speak to anyone.

Shadow knows they’re only trying to help, but he’s too blind to see that, without Silver, it feels like the hole in his heart was now an abyss, with no way to fix it. Everyone was on the other side of the ravine, trying to mend it while Shadow distances himself and breaks down any progress they make.

He drives himself crazy, always telling himself he wasn’t good enough for Maria, so why did he think he was good enough for Silver, _I’m always going to get others killed, won’t I_.

The abyss makes him mad too, it was always telling him that he could have saved Silver if he tried, he could have saved _Maria_ , if he tried. It makes him crazy, he wants to scream, “I know I could have saved them!! But I’m not enough…” 

But that wasn’t all, the abyss calls to him, it told him that if he wasn’t enough for Silver or Maria, then he should leave. Why stay if he wasn’t good enough? For anyone…

So as Shadow turns to the abyss, he finally sees who he was, he wasn’t ‘The Ultimate Lifeform’, he couldn’t save the ones he loved… So Shadow takes that leap and jumps into the abyss, letting the darkness swallow him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first work for the Sonic fandom(I'll hopefully be writing more soon) This is based on "Without you" Cover by Ursine Vulpine & Annaca(Extended Version) I recommend listening to it.  
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!! I'd love to hear what you think about it!


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